3.1.3 Cleaning Filth

Some things are considered filth and have to be removed in a particular way.

In this unit:

There are three types of impurity.

There is a lengthy procedure for removing major impurity.

Water must be used to remove impurity.

Keywords

Najis

Najasah

Valid

Edible

Slaughtered

Mughallazah

Mukhaffafah

There are some things that Islam considers to be impure (najis). Impure is different from dirty. Some things are dirty, but they are pure. An example of a dirty thing is rotten food. Some things seem clean, but they are najis. An example of this is the hairs that fall off a cat.

Impure things (najasah) have to be removed from our bodies and our clothes in a special way before we pray. If they are on us while we pray, our prayer will not be valid. That means it’s like we didn’t pray at all! Also, if these impure items get into water, they make the water impure.

It’s better to remove dirty things from our body so we can stay clean and healthy. Unlike with impure things, there’s no special way to remove dirt. You can remove it in any way you like. Also, if you do pray with something dirty on you, your prayer will still be valid.

There are three types of najasah: major, regular, and light. They are divided into these categories based on how we are supposed to clean them.

Three types of Najasah

Najasah mughallazah (major impurity)

Najasah mughallazah (major impurity)

Najasah (regular impurity)

Najasah (regular impurity)

A short discussion on some of the regular impurities:

For this discussion, “excused” means that your prayer is valid even if you have that najasah on your clothes or body.

1. Blood or pus on our body or clothes is excused if it is our own blood or pus, it is not mixed with other things, and we did not cause the bleeding on purpose.

3. Beware of alcohol in makeup and perfumes. Always check the ingredients!

4. A little bit of najis animal hairs is excused.

5. Animal skin can become pure if it is tanned. But the skin of a dog or pig will never become pure.

Najasah mukhaffafah (light najasah)

Najasah mukhaffafah (light najasah)

The urine of baby boys is light najasah as long as the baby boy is less than 2 lunar years of age and has only eaten milk.

How to Purify Something That Has Become Najis (impure)

Major impurity

Major impurity

First wash off the impurity until its color, taste and smell are gone. Then wash the impure area 7 times with purifying water. In one of those washes, mix the water with dust, then wash the impure area with it.

Let’s take an example. Suppose a dog licked your hand. Here is what you would do to clean it:

Regular impurity

Regular impurity

First wash off the impurity until its color, taste and smell are gone. Then wash the impure area 1, 2 or 3 times with purifying water.

Let’s take another example. Suppose you got some urine on your hand. Here is how you would clean it:

Minor impurity

Minor impurity

Squeeze or wring out all the baby’s urine. Sprinkle the entire affected area with purifying water until the whole area is covered by water droplets. Now the area is clean. Since cleaning it is easy, a baby boy’s urine is called light najasah.